I am by default. I'm an avid hunter, fisherman, backpacker, kayaker, and all around outdoorsman. I've been at it hard for 50 years now and my accumulated gear makes my garage look like a Cabela's. I've got everything from water purification gear, to cold weather gear, to cook wear, to rafting gear, camping gear, and a ton of guns and ammo. I try to keep 500 rounds for every gun that I own.
After Snowmageddon in Texas back in 2001 I learned I wasn't as prepared as I'd like. I added a Jackery solar generator to my gear, a snow shovel, multiple power banks, 2 cords of cut firewood, fire starter sticks, a plug in space heater, 4 extra propane bottles, and a folding table for cooking on in the garage. You learn things as you go, like needing a snow shovel so my dogs could get out to poop, power banks to keep the phones going, extra propane for the grill since we had no power and couldn't use our stove/oven, and a flat space to cook with a camp stove in the garage.
COVID in 2022 reminded me that I still wasn't as prepared as I'd of liked. Toilet paper, who knew? I do now and have overstock of paper goods, vitamins, bleach, hand sanitizer, latex gloves, added for health. I also learned about boredom and stocked up on puzzles, games, and books added to my Kindle. I restocked my garage with assorted nails, screws, and scrap wood for projects. I keep my liquor cabinet FULL now and make sure I'm never low on smoke. I added extra gas cans to my garage that I always keep full and will keep our vehicles topped off when I know something like this is going to happen.
Knowing something is going to happen and acting on it is half the battle. We knew Snowmageddon was going to happen a week before it did and I prepared for it. We knew COVID was going to happen a month before it did and I prepared for it. I've eaten enough MREs in my life that I knew I wanted no more of that and stocked the panty with dry beans, rice, pasta, Spam, tuna, spaghetti sauce, chicken noodle soup, candy, and canned veg. I had big cuts of meat in my freezer like roasts, briskets, whole chickens, and pork butts that I could cook in 1 day but eat on for a week. We even froze milk, bread, and tortillas while supplies were in short demand.
Lastly I want a way to get out. Snowmageddon was such a miserable ice field that even with two 4 wheel drive vehicles we were pretty much stuck. I added two sets of snow chains to our vehicles so that I can at least crawl out of our neighborhood. I also bought a pulk that we can pull behind our mountain bikes if needed. While I haven't got to use it on snow yet it worked great for hauling St. Augustine sod to our back yard.
